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International venue

A vibrant festival and culture scene, international sports events, and trade fairs of global reach make Basel a first-rate venue both for national and international events.

Annual highlights

Among the musical highlights of the year are Jazzfestival Basel in the spring and Em Bebbi sy Jazz, the largest jazz festival in Switzerland, during summer. Also in summer, Basel Tattoo, which is the second largest open-air tattoo in the world after the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, attracts thousands of visitors from all over Europe. When it comes to sports, Basel has just as much to offer. In mid-March, the world’s top badminton players meet here to compete in the Badminton Swiss Open. Tennis fans get their money’s worth at Swiss Indoors, held at the St. Jakobshalle every autumn. Year after year, this internationally renowned indoor tournament brings the best tennis players in the world to Basel. Apart from these large-scale events, there is also a wealth of smaller festivals and fairs as well as concerts, theatre, ballet and opera performances.

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Important trade fairs

Basel's strength as Switzerland's leading city for trade fairs and conventions, with more than 120000 square metres of exhibition space, is known far beyond the country's borders. The exhibition centre owned by Messe Basel is smack in the middle of town. Excellent public transportation means that visitors from far and wide reach their destination quickly and comfortably. Highlights in the annual calendar include Art Basel and BASELWORLD, major global shows for modern and contemporary art and watches and jewellery, respectively. In addition, muba, Switzerland’s largest consumer trade fair, and Swissbau for the construction and real estate industry are both held here.

Video: Basel Tourismus

Outdoor markets and fairs

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the whole city sparkles with lights and decorations. The Christmas market, where arts and crafts and many culinary delicacies are offered for sale, is a veritable feast for the senses. Basel’s Autumn Fair (Herbstmesse) is the largest and oldest amusement fair in Switzerland. The atmosphere on the fairgrounds in the centre of town is unique. Finally, there are several food and flea markets all year round in different locations throughout the city.

Superb traffic links

These advantages plus excellent traffic links by rail, road and air in the three-nations triangle formed by Switzerland, Germany, and France make the city the perfect choice for any type of Event.

Wide cultural and culinary choice

Basels offers a wide range of high quality 3-, 4-, and 5-star hotels, with a total capacity of some 4000 rooms. To complete the picture, Basel has about 700 restaurants offering wide choice of gastronomy from all over the world, numerous museums and theatres and its old town whose bars, cafés, and shops invite one to stroll, linger, and shop.

The perfect infrastructure for any event

Basel's modern, high-quality infrastructure, its exhibition centre (Messe Basel), the new St Jakob Park stadium, its well-established St Jakobshalle -one of the most modern event halls of Europe-, and many generously sized theatres and concert halls meet the most demanding international requirements. The various public halls are equipped with the latest technical installations, offer a wide choice of seating capacity, and are all in easy-to-reach central Locations.